Essays
Do You Actually Have to Finish That Novel?
A critic considers the strange moral pressure we feel to read to the very last page
Michel Chaouli
The Body I Couldn't Abstract
Motherhood reshaped how I see shame, art, and the female body
Megan O’Grady
Browse
Essays
Searching for Seamus Heaney
What I found when I resolved to read him
Elisa Gonzalez
December 15, 2025
Terrence Malick’s Disciples
Why the auteur is the most influential director in Hollywood
Bilge Ebiri
December 15, 2025
What Happened When I Began to Speak Welsh
By learning my family's language, I hoped to join their conversation.
Dan Fox
December 15, 2025
When Does a Divorce Begin?
Most people think of it as failure. For me it was an achievement.
Anahid Nersessian
December 15, 2025
The Unfolding of Time in Paint
My encounters with Joan Mitchell's panels
Rachel Cohen
December 11, 2025
Who Was the Foodie?
What it would mean to take taste seriously again
Alicia Kennedy
November 17, 2025
The Book That Changed How We Think About Rape
Fifty years on, what lessons endure from Against Our Will?
Claire Bond Potter
November 10, 2025
What “After the Hunt” Gets Right
I left academia. Luca Guadagnino’s new film reminds me why.
Annie Julia Wyman
November 3, 2025
An Incomplete Mentorship
Ellen Bryant Voigt helped me become the writer I am today. After a falling out, we never spoke again.
Rachel Jamison Webster
October 30, 2025
How We’ve Misunderstood Taylor Swift
The Life of a Showgirl received mixed reviews from fans and critics. But it may be her most honest work yet.
Stephanie Burt
October 20, 2025